Editorial: Lawmakers should drink an unCOLA

Privatizing the state liquor system and bringing our antiquated liquor laws into the 21st Century?

Nope.

The Legislature and the governor did manage to get a transportation bill passed, but it was a struggle, which was odd considering that the idea of improving roads and public transit had strong support in most regions.

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With that kind of job performance, it wouldn’t seem likely that the leaders of our state government would qualify for raises this year. If anything, it would seem that they should be concerned about their job security.

Think again.

The leaders of our state government qualify for raises every year merely for showing up. And as far as job security is concerned, while the polls suggest that Gov. Tom Corbett may have something to worry about, most incumbents in the state Legislature are safe — the advantages of incumbency and gerrymandering providing all the job security they need.

The raises our representatives will receive this year are modest, but still, when you consider their performance in office and the fact that many of their constituents are struggling to make ends meet, pay hikes seem untoward, to say the least.

State legislators will get a $200 raise, which isn’t much, but is probably $200 more than many of their constituents can expect. As it is, Pennsylvania’s Legislature is the second-highest paid in the country, trailing only California.

Rank-and-file legislators will make $84,012 in 2014. Higher-ranking members of the Legislature will earn six-digit salaries. Gov. Corbett, the highest-paid governor in the country, will make $187,818.

And that is in a state where the median household income, according to the U.S. Census, is about $51,600 — below the national average.

And it should come as no surprise that legislative salaries have increased significantly since 1995, when the Legislature passed a law intended to curb legislative pay raises.

It is called Act 51, intended to tie legislative raises to the cost of living. As with many so-called legislative reforms, this one had some unintended — or maybe intended — consequences. When the law passed, rank-and-file legislators made $47,000.

How many of you working the same job have seen your annual income increase by $35,000 over the past 15 years?

Some legislators — and Gov. Corbett — have pledged not to accept the raises or have said they will donate the money to charity (the raises still count when calculating pensions, though). That’s a good sentiment. We would suggest donations to food banks, as cuts to food assistance have made it more difficult for low-income Pennsylvanians to feed their families. (And, at the risk of sounding overly cynical and suspicious, lawmakers and the governor might want to put copies of receipts up on their Websites proving they’ve actually given the money.)

Which brings us to the irony of this situation.

Low-income workers have seen their lot become more and more difficult in recent years. Cuts to health-care programs and public assistance have made it harder for people on the lower rungs of the economic ladder to support their families.

Meanwhile, our representatives — who pledge to defend the public welfare in their oath to our Constitution — get raises.